Why the 2026 Le Mans race will be without current F1 drivers

The WEC announced the 2026 calendar earlier today. The highlight of the endurance class season will be run as the fourth race next year, with the championship comprising a total of eight races. The circuits where the events will take place remain unchanged from this year.

Should any F1 drivers have harboured the thought that participating in the 24-hour race in 2026 was an option, then the new calendar arrives as bad news. The Grand Prix of Barcelona-Catalunya, as the race in Barcelona has been renamed due to the arrival of the MadRing, falls on the same weekend.

Furthermore, the WEC will visit a number of circuits that are also well-known to F1 fans. For example, the season starts in Qatar, after which a six-hour race takes place on the Imola circuit, which will no longer be used in Formula 1 in 2026. There will also be races in Belgium and Brazil at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. The season will conclude in Bahrain.

This year, too, the race coincides with an F1 race, with the endurance race taking place this weekend at the same time as the Canadian Grand Prix. Here you can read which former F1 drivers and Dutchmen will appear at the start in France.